|
State Representative - District 74
William Marcrum (R), Owner, Marcrum Family Healthcare, LLC
1) During the next session of the Indiana General Assembly, a
new biennial budget
will be developed. If elected, what priorities would you
advocate in this process?
In order to lessen
the burden on Indiana taxpayers, I believe we need to find ways of
shrinking the bureaucracy to increase efficiency, eliminate costly red
tape which adds greatly to the cost of doing business in Indiana and
allow for greater accountability from the bureaucrats to the citizens
they serve.
I also believe we must begin the process of
eliminating property taxes and place a greater
emphasis on sales taxes
as the primary source of income-generation. Property taxation,
as a fair system
state-wide. seems to be collapsing along with becoming increasingly
burdensome to enforce. Local conditions create inexplicable variations
in property values which cannot be rationally justified in a fair,
easy-to-understand system of
taxation. Sales taxes,
however, are simple to calculate, easier to collect and they are not
subject to indefinable or non
standardized regional conditions.
Finally,
we need to lace an unprecedented p emphasis on the development of the
infrastructure needed to conduct business in Indiana in the 21 "
Century. This includes
traditional elements such as roads
and bridges as well as next-generation
communications
technologies, cutting edge energy , delivery/energy
development methodologies and the
development of a highly-educated workforce.
2) As the construction of Interstate 69 has begun in Indiana, will you
pledge to
support
appropriation of the $700 million in funding designed for the project
through the Major Moves transportation plan?
Absolutely, I-69 will be a key ingredient in our long-term
economic development efforts
and is a
prime example of' the kind of innovative thinking we need to be
doing more of in
our states capitol
compared to the
old-fashioned traditional forms of taxation which
place an undue burden
on Indiana taxpayers turning them into indentured servants rather
than the citizens we,
as elected officials, should be serving.
3) In 2007, the bi-partisan Kernan-Shepard Commission made numerous
recommendations to reform and restructure local government in
Indiana such as
creation of a
single county executive and legislative body, as well as transferring
the
responsibilities of townships to the county level. Do you
support implementation of
these
recommendations?
We must
always be looking f 8r ways to increase eff iciencv, streamline
procedures and
reduce the burden on Indiana payers.
While the old system may have been appropriate
in the 19th
and 20th centuries,
they are too burdensome and too inefficient
considering the technological realities of the 21" century. As any
forward-thinking
business does in
today's global marketplace, government must also be flexible enough and
willing enough to adapt dew methods of reducing production costs and
increasing
income growth.
4) As economic development it becomes increasingly competitive on
the regional and national level, how best can
our state position itself to attract new business and retention and expansion of
Indiana-base companies?
As I say on my website,
www.docmarcrum.com
1-64 is
a potential economic
powerhouse that
offers the citizens of District 74 as well as the entire state of
Indiana, unprecedented opportunities for a century of job growth, income
generation and
prosperity. While 1-65 is flanked by billions of dollars of
international business
investment, real estate
development and jobs-producing industries, 1-64 in District 74
contains access to a
fast-food restaurant and an adult bookstore as a result of the lack of
foresight
and innovative thinking provided by our current regional leadership. I
intend to turn this situation around 180 degrees for the people of
District 74 if I am elected.
Additionally, the education level of our workforce is as much a key
ingredient in economic development as
are roads and energy resources. But_ despite the dedicated
efforts of our
teachers and sc
001 systems, state government is still supporting the
insanely antiquated
idea that 16-year-old kids can drop out of school and be fully-functioning
members of the 21st century workforce. If I am elected. I
will offer a bill to
our legislature that
requires all students to receive, at a bare minimum, a high school
diploma or its
equivalent, if they choose to drop out before that achievement, their
driver's license will be revoked After all, driving is a privilege, not
aright, and it'a
young person is not
smart en ugh to attain, at the very least, a high school diploma, then
they are not
smart enough to be safely driving a vehicle on our 21" century highways
and
interstates.
5) As the national debate
continues, what role can Indiana play in the discussion and development
of a new additional energy policy?
Years ago, southern
Indiana as a major oil producing region on the national scene.
Many of those wells
still exist, but were sealed off several decades ago because production
costs were greater than income-generating potential. Now that petroleum
prices are significantly higher, we can encourage new production from
those old sources by reducing regulatory burdens. This increased
production will also help the state generate a new source of income
which we can use to help us fund the creation of new forms of power
generating assets that utilize our access to the Ohio River and
distribution avenues to the rest of the nation.
Our higher education
system must also be encouraged to increase the training of students in
new forms of power-generation technologies especially since we are, as a
state, rich with the raw materials that can used in the production of
ethanol and/or similar forms
of plant-based bio-type
fuel technologies.
We must also place a
new emphasis on providing economic support to businesses and consumers
who are foresighted enough to begin adapting new forms of power
generation
including solar, wind and bio-type fuel technologies. This support will
need to be as innovative in its implementation as was the "outside the
box" thinking used to fund the
development of 1-69.
As a follow-up, what should the State of
Indiana do to address
the issue of increasing energy costs?
Our state government
must work to be an example to the private sector to illustrate how
adopting new forms of power generation can be cost-effective, efficient
and good for business. For example, all buildings associated with state
government can be outfitted
with solar panels
(where physically appropriate) and connected to a state-wide power-collection
grid with the power generated by this network sold back to private
industry to reduce the cost of power production and power usage for all
Indiana citizens.
Our state government saw fit to demand that taxpayers create county
solid waste districts
more than a decade ago to l e, partially-funded by the collection of
recyclable trash. And
yet. even though it's a proven form of fuel. millions of gallons of used
vegetable oil in
Indiana
are not being adequately utilized and are environmental hazards in many
communities. Our solid waste districts could be collecting that
material, easily converting it to bio-diesel aid then providing that
fuel to power each county's municipal
vehicles. Or the new fuel could become part of a state-wide pool which
communities could tap into for their municipal fleets.
In essence. the only limitation we face to
achieving new heights of conservation and
energy creation is the
limitation of our imaginations.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Russell Stillwell* (D), Indiana State Representative, District 78
1) During the next session of the Indiana General Assembly, a
new biennial budget
will be developed. If elected, what priorities would you
advocate in this process?
The first priority would be a balanced budget like we have done over the
past many
sessions when my caucus was the Majority party. Other priorities would
include adequate
public education funding so our local schools can provide the best
education possible (this is particularly important since the state will
pick up 100% of the general
find
due to passage of 1-113 1001
in 2008) and
insuring continued funding of Major Moves
dollars with an emphasis in SW Indiana.
2) As the construction of Interstate 69 has begun in Indiana, will you
pledge to
support
appropriation of the $700 million in funding designed for the project
through the Major Moves transportation plan?
YES! We placed this in the 2007 budget and our SW Delegation insisted it
remain.
As a follow-up,
what is your plan to fund the remainder of the 1-679 project in Indiana,
including the new K-679 Ohio River bridge?
We must continue our discussion with our Kentucky partners on the
bridge, get adequate
information of the costs and what percentage Indiana or Kentucky will be
responsible for
and how much we can leverage from the federal highway program. We would
need a
broad coalition from Indiana and Kentucky to leverage our collective
clout for 1-69 funding by Congress.
3) In 2007, the bi-partisan Kernan-Shepard Commission made numerous
recommendations to reform and restructure local government in
Indiana such as
creation of a
single county executive and legislative body, as well as transferring
the
responsibilities of townships to the county level. Do you
support implementation of
these
recommendations?
I do not
think the "one-size-fits-all" approach of the Kernan-Shepard Commission
is workable for
the entire state. I do believe we can and should make provisions of the
report as easy as possible for counties and/or cities & towns to
implement.
4) As economic development it becomes increasingly competitive on
the regional and national level, how best can
our state position itself to attract new business and retention and expansion of
Indiana-base companies?
We must treat existing
business as well as we do our recruitment of new business.
If/when we provide huge
state and/or local incentives such as tax abatement and other incentives
for a particular industry, we must be very careful that we do not harm
our existing
Hoosier industry in that particular field. To not recognize this, we
just land new jobs and loss existing jobs which is not the goal of any
of us.
We must use our Indiana
natural resources to entice business to Indiana. We are a thriving
agricultural state with lots of ethanol production. We have low cost
(compared to most other states) energy and we have Hoosier work ethic
second to none.
5) As the national debate
continues, what role can Indiana play in the discussion and development
of a new additional energy policy?
We can and should play
a major role. We have a 300 year supply of coal in our nation
and our state is a
top-ten producer in the nation. We have much lower electricity costs
than most of the states. We have an aggressive cellulosic program credit
for development of the next generation of corn products and we are on
the verge of a new development of our wind in the northern part of
Indiana.
As a follow-up, what should the State of
Indiana do to address
the issue of increasing energy costs?
A
natural growth of clean coal technology coupled with renewables have and
should put
Indiana
ahead of the pack in energy renewables and low cost production. And one
should note our
coal gasification incentives we have in our state with one under
construction and another looking for the best site.
Click here to return to the Candidate
Survey main page.
.
|
